"We've met," Julius said cautiously. "Aren't you that weird guy?"
"Once, but I am no longer the person I was yesterday" Montgomery replied, stepping forward. "But I remember all things. Especially the cracks in fate."
That savior-complex voice hadn't changed. Deep, layered with melodrama and unsettling poise. He gestured toward the center of Julius' chest.
"You carry something great, you just don't understand it yet."
Julius squinted. "What do you want?"
"To help," Montgomery said. "You're shackled by a system built to break people like you. Levels. Stats. Boons. It's all chains. But I can offer you something else. Something older. Power that predates this world's illusion of strength. You're one of the few people who I know can understand my goal."
His goal to scrap the level system?
Julius felt it, that deep thrum beneath Montgomery's words. The same sensation he got near dungeon lords or cursed relics: a pressure behind his eyes, an itch in his soul.
